Ecclesiastes 12:10

    When Paul started preaching in Iconium, things seemed to be going well. In Acts 14 we read, “ a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks .” Yet the momentum didn’t last as “ Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren .”  So how did Paul change the tide?   Well, he didn’t, at least not immediately. In verse three it tells us “ Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord ” Those folks that had been disillusioned by the opposition took time to convince. Even after the prolonged effort, they didn’t convince everyone. As we read in verse 4 “ But the people of the city were divided; and some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles ”.     I am afraid that many forget these lessons. When we put our hand to the plow, we oftentimes expect quick and easy results. If those don’t come or problems muster, we are quick to give up and proc...

     The old adage was ‘seeing is believing’ but photoshop and deepfakes, seeing isn’t all that accurate anymore. It’s easy to get fooled by fake news and internet hoaxes yet that isn’t the biggest deception we face. Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God.   But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. Hebrews 3:12-13      Here the Hebrew writer warns us about the deceitfulness of sin. Sin fools us into not seeing what is right in front of us. It always explains itself away, hides behind false motives, and covers over its shortcomings. Al the while it corroding our hearts taking us away from God.   So how can we see thru the lies?   With one another. With encouragement. With a daily dose of accountability from other brethren. That is why God didn’t make ...

    In 1840, the Whig party needed a candidate to unseat Martin Van Buren. So, they created one. They took a Virginia aristocrat by the name of William Henry Harrison and transformed into a ‘ hard cider–swillin’, log cabin–livin’ everyman’ . Harrison wasn’t known for much outside of his victory in the rather obscure battle of Tippecanoe and that exactly what the Whigs wanted. All he had to do during the campaign against Van Buren, was to avoid any controversial issues and keep his mouth shut.  The campaign was a success.   So, his Inauguration Day was really the first chance Harrison had to speak his mind. And boy did he. His speech still holds the record for the longest ever at over two hours. It was described as the “ longest, most excruciatingly boring Inaugural Address ever delivered ’. It was an ordeal for the audiences not just because of the speech but also because the temperatures were below freezing.   That didn’t faze Harrison. Even without a co...

     Alfred Packer was a man made infamous by his peculiar crime; cannibalism.   The fact Packer had murdered and eaten five hunting companions during a Colorado blizzard in 1873 was horrifying. Hardly anyone could think of a worse crime, well except for one person. The judge at the trial M. B. Gerry was quoted to have said to Packer at his sentencing, “ There were seven Democrats in Hinsdale County, but you ate five of them. I sentence you to be hanged by the neck until you’re dead, dead, dead, as a warning against reducing the Democratic population of the state. ”   I wish I could say we have moved beyond that thinking. Yet today, it seems politics still play a huge role in most folks thinking, more maybe than it should. Issues of right and wrong are now blurred by the political implications. All sides seem far too willing to accept evil as long as that evil benefits their political constituency. Rhetoric has replaced reason. Victory is more important princi...